Toy garage



MW@ 7% WM@ M. FLEHSHMAN mm m TOY GARAGE Filed April 25, 1934. 2 SheS-Sheet l l imm-mms M2 20 5a 53 MYRON FLEISH MAMAN 58 EgfoHm W.I .'HEPPNER WM', I M. Himsa-MAN m- M. mm

' TOY GARAGE Filed April 25, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet B HNVIENTQWS MYRON FLElSHMAN MND QHN VV.K.HEPPNER Patented Apr. 7, 1936 narran STATES ATENT OFFICE TOY GARAGE York Application April 25, 1934, Serial No. 722,275

21 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to toy garages.

The object of the present invention resides generally in the provision of an improved toy garage. A more specific object is to equip the same with automatically operable door mechanism which greatly enhances the play value of the toy. The garage is preferably provided with a surface member or runway leading to the doors and adapted upon depression oi the runway, as when a toy vehicle rolls up the same, to cause quick opening of the doors, so that the toy vehicle may proceed uninterruptedly into the garage. Another object of our invention is` to make the toy compact, and to this end the runway is so dimensioned and detachably related to the door operating mechanism that it may be disconnected and placed within the garage building.

Still another object of our invention resides in the provision of door mechanism so arranged that a toy vehicle may approach the garage at high speed without striking the door before it has had time to open. A further object of our invention resides in the provision of door mechanism so arranged as to not only open upon approach of a toy vehicle, but to close behind the vehicle after it has entered the garage. Still another object is to equip the toy garage with a simple, inexpensive, yet effective lighting system arranged to illuminate the interior of the garage when the doors are opened.

" their relation one to the other as hereinafter are more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specication is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a toy garage embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken in the plane of the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section through the door mechanism, showing the doors in closed position; and

Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the doors in open position.

Fig. 6 is a section taken in elevation through a modified forni of toy garage;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken in the plane of the line 1-l of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of still another form of toy garage;

`Referring to the drawings, the toy comprises a simulated garage building B, door mechanism D, and a surface member or runway R leading to the doors D. IThe door mechanism is so arranged that depression of the runway R, as upon rolling of a toy vehicle V upwardly thereon, causes opening of the doors, so that the toy vehicle may proceed up the runway and into the garage.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the simulated garage building B comprises side walls I2, end walls M, a roof it, and a bottom wall or floor i8. The bottom i8 is preferably elevated slightly so as to come flush with the upper end 2d of runway R, the runway being slightly upwardly inclined from a lower end 22 resting upon the ground, to the upper end 20. One of the end walls lli is cut away and provided with doors 24 which, in the present instance, are hinged at their edges by hinges 2t. The retained bottom portion of end wall lll, that is, the part below the cut out doorway, may be conveniently referred to as a door sill. The doors are normally urged outwardly by coiled springs 28. The lower edges of the doors approach the iioor i8 of the garage but with some clearance so as not to impede their movement. Y

The doors are normally held closed against the action of hinge springs 28 by detents 3i) bent upwardly from a leaf spring 32 secured to the floor lil of the garage by appropriate tongues 34. The end wall lll, or more specifically, the door sill, is cut away at 36 to clear leaf spring 32 and to accommodate downward movement thereof, and it will be evident from inspection of Fig. 3 that upon downward movement of detent spring 32 the doors 2li are released for outward movement.

The runway R consists of a single piece of` sheet lmetal provided with downwardly bent tabs 38 which are received within slots 40 formed at the end of `detent spring 32. It will be evident that with this construction depression of the runway causes the detents 30 to move downwardly, thus freeing the doors for outward movement. The resistance of detent spring 32 is, of course, adjusted to provide sensitive release, and the weight of a toy vehicle, even a light one, is ample to cause the doors to open. It will also be appreciated that the runway is readily detached from the detent mechanism by picking the same upwardly. We prefer to so dimension the runway that it can be placed Within the garage. The toy vehicle may also be received within the garage on top of the runway, thus making the en-` tire outfit compact for shipment, or for storage when not being used.

If desired, a pair of stops 42 may be bent upwardly at the side edges of the runway, these stops serving to limit the outward movementl of the doors, as is shown by the broken lines in Fig. l.

A modified form of garage is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. In this garage the door is moved upwardly instead of outwardly. This operation is of advantage if the toy vehicle is caused to approach the garage at high speed, for the vehicle can roll the full length of the runway before reaching the door which therefore has an appreciable time within which to open.

Referring to the drawings, the specic arrangement there shown includes a door made up of a plurality of sections horizontally hinged together at S2. The door is guided by tracks or channels 94 which extend upwardly and then rearwardly. The door is preferably guided by the ends of the hinge pintle 92 and by similar pins or wires 9B provided at the upper and lower edges of the door. A spring 98 is tensioned between the upper edge of the door and the rear end wall |00 of the garage building. It will be manifest that spring 98 tends constantly to pull the door upwardly and rearwardly so that -it will lie overhead about at the ceiling line. The door is normally maintained closed by a detent |02 pivoted at |04 and normally urged clockwise into holding position by a spring |06. Detent |02 engages a small hook |08 formed at the lower edge of the door. 'I'he door is further provided with a knob |I0 by means of which the door is readily pulled downwardly until detent |02 engages the hook |08.

As before, the runway R preferably rests upon detent |02 so that depression of the runway urges the detent counter-clockwise and releases the door for quick upward movement. As here illustrated, the detent |02 is provided with an upwardly directed tongue l| 2 which mates with a slot formed near the end of the runway. The runway is supported in the position shown 1n Fig. 6 by shoulders ||4 best shown in Fig. '7.

In this case the front end of the garage bottom is bent downwardly to form a narrow wall extending from one side to the other of the garage below the doors and occupying the space between the floor and the bottom of the toy. This narrow wall may conveniently be called a door sill.

Here again the runway is readily detached from the detent and is preferably so dimensioned as to be received within the toy garage building. Here also the detent mechanism is eiiective to hold the door closed even when the runway is removed and placed within the building.

In Figs. 4, 5, and 8 I illustrate still another form of toy garage embodying features of my invention. This garage differs from those heretofore described primarily in being arranged for automatic closing as well as opening of the doors. Referring to the drawings, the garage building includes an end wall or door frame |20 which is movably related to the garage building. The end wall |20 is pivoted about a horizontal axis |22 located at its bottom edge. An outward projection or flange |24, preferably formed integrally with the wall |20, is constantly urged upwardly by a leaf spring |26. This causes the wall |20 to tilt inwardly of the garage building. Its movement is limited by a stop |28 struck downwardly from a strip of metal |30 which in turn is bent inwardly from triangularly-shaped wall |32, these parts being xedly located on the building.

A pair of doors |34 are hinged at their outer edges by hinges |36. A stop |38, projecting downwardly from the upper part of the wall or door frame |20, limits the inward movement of doors |34. The doors are so disposed and freely hinged that they tend naturally to swing inwardly to closed position when the frame 20 is tilted inwardly, as shown in Fig. 4.

The runway R is detachably connected to frame 20 by downwardly bent tongues |40 which are received in slots cut through strip |24. It will be understood that, upon depression of the runway, the frame |20 is moved counter-clockwise from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 5, the outward tilting movement of the frame being limited by a stop |42 struck downwardly from overhead strip |30. It will further be understood that when the frame |20 is tilted outwardly, as shown in Fig. 5, the doors |34 swing outwardly under the inuence of gravity. Leaf spring |26 is, of course, made of such resistance that the rolling of a toy vehicle up the runway in sufficient to tilt the frame |20 outwardly and to thereby cause opening of the doors. As soon as the vehicle has rolled past the runway into the garage, spring |253 restores the frame 20 to the inwardly tilted position, whereupon the doors automatically swing to closed position. Here again the runway may be removed and placed within the garage building when the toy is not in use.

The part |20 may be a complete wall, or a mere frame forming only a small part of a larger wall, and in the claims the term wall applies to either construction.

It is believed that the mode of constructing and using, as well as the many advantages of our improved garage toys, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will further be apparent that while we have shown and described our invention in preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made in the structures disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A toy comprising a simulated building, a

door therefor, a door sill below said door, a dea pressible surface member leading to said door at a level over the door sill, detent mechanism associated with said door sill for automatically releasing the door upon depression of the surface member, and means to open the door when released.

2. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, a large depressible runway leading directly to said door, and mechanism for automatically opening the door upon depression of the runway by a toy vehicle.

3. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, a door sill below said door, a slightly upwardly inclined runway leading directly to said door at a level over the door sill, means retaining the door in closed position, and mechanism for automatically releasing said means and opening the door upon rolling of a toy vehicle up the runway.

4. A toy comprising a simulated building, a door therefor, a large depressible surface member leading directly to said door, and mechanism for automatically opening the door in response to depression of the surface member, said surface member being detachably secured to the toy building 'and being readily removable for compact storage of the toy.

5. Atoy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, a door sill beneath said door, a runway leading directly to said door at a level over said sill, means associated with the door sill for retaining the door in closed position and for supporting the runway, said means automatically releasing said door upon depression of the runway by a toy vehicle, said runway being detachably secured to said means, for compact storage of the toy, and means to open the door when released.

6. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, a slightly upwardly inclined runway leading to said door, means retaining the door in closed position, and mechanism for automatically releasing said means and opening the door upon rolling of a toy vehicle up the runway, said runway being detachably secured to and readily removable from the garage and being so dimensioned as to t within the garage, the means for holding the door closed being operative even when the runway is detached.

7. A toy comprising a simulated building, a pair of doors hinged at their outer edges, means normally tending to swing the doors open, a normally upwardly moved detent beneath said doors for retaining the doors in closed position, a large surface member leading directly to said doors and connected directly to said detent, whereby downward movement of the surface member releases the detent and permits the doors to swing outwardly.

8. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a pair of outwardly openable doors therefor, said doors being hinged at their outer edges with spring hinges normally tending to swing the doors open, a detent beneath said doors for retaining the doors in closed position, resilient means urging said detent upwardly, a runway leading directly to said doors and detachably connected to said detent, whereby downward movement of the runway releases the detent and permits the doors to swing outwardly, said runway being readily removable for compact storage of the toy.

9. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a pair of outwardly openable doors at one end of said building, said doors being hinged at their outer edges with spring hinges normally tending to swing the doors open, a door sill beneath said doors, a detent associated with said sill beneath said doors for retaining the doors in closed position, resilient means urging said detent upwardly, and a slightly upwardly inclined runway leading directly to said doors at a level over said sill `and detachably connected to said detent, whereby downward movement of the runway releases the detent and permits the doors to swing outwardly, said runway being readily removable for compact storage of the toy.

10. A toy comprising a simulated building, an upwardly movable door therefor, means guiding the movement of the door, resilient means tending normally to open the door by moving the same overhead, detent means for retaining the door in closed position, a surface member connected to said detent and adapted to release the same upon downward movement.

11. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, said door comprising a plurality of sections horizontally hinged together, stationary guides at the sides of said door extending upwardly and then rearwardly, resilient means tending normally to open the door by moving the same overhead, detent means for retaining the door in closed position, a runway connected to said detent and adapted to release the same upon downward movement of the runway.

12. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door therefor, said door comprising a plurality of sections horizontally hinged together, stationary guides at the sides of said door extending upwardly and then rearwardly, a pull spring tensioned between the door and the interior of the garage and tending normally to open the door by pulling the same overhead, detent means at the bottom of said garage for retaining the door in closed position, a runway connected to said detent and adapted to release the detent upon downward movement of the runway.

13. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, a door at one end'thereof, said door comprising a plurality of sections horizontally hinged together, stationary guide channels at the sides of said door extending upwardly and then rearwardly from the end of the building, said door sections being supported and guided by said channels, a pull spring tensioned between the upper edge of the door and the rear end of the garage and tending normally to open the door by pulling the same overhead, detent means at the bottom of said garage for retaining the door in closed position, a slightly upwardly inclined runway detachably connected to said detent and adapted to release the detent upon downward movement of the runway, whereby said door is opened when a toy vehicle rolls up the runway,

said runway being dimensioned to be received within the garage building.

14. A toy comprising a simulated building, one wall of said building being pivoted for oscillation about a horizontal axis, a door freely hinged on said wall, means tending normally to move the wall inwardly of the building, a surface member connected to said wall in such manner that downward movement of the member tends to oscillate the wall outwardly of the building, said door being so disposed and balanced on said wall that it automatically moves to closed position when the wall is tilted inwardly of the building, and it automatically swings outwardly to open position when the wall is tilted outwardly of the building.

15. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, one wall of said garage building being pivoted for oscillation about a horizontal axis, a

door freely hinged on said wall, means tending normally to move the wall inwardly of the building, a runway connected to said wall in such manner that downward movement of the runway tends to oscillate the wall outwardly, said door being so disposed and balanced on said end that it automatically moves to closed position when the wall is tilted inwardly of the building, and it automatically swings outwardly to open position when the wall is tilted outwardly of the building.

16. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, one wall of said garage building being pivoted for oscillation about its lower edge, a pair of doors freely hinged on said wall, resilient means tending normally to move the wall inwardly of the building, a runway connected to said wall in such manner that downward movement of the runway tends to oscillate the wall outwardly, said doors being so disposed and balanced on said end that they automatically move to closed position when the wall is tilted inwardly Cil of the building, and they automatically swing outwardly to open position when the wall is tilted outwardly of the building.

17. A toy garage comprising a simulated garage building, one end of said garage building being pivoted for oscillation about its lower edge, a pair of doors the outer edges of which are freely hinged on said end, resilient means tending normally to incline the end inwardly of the building, a runway detachably connected to said end in such manner that downward movement of the runway tends to oscillate the garage end outwardly of the building, means limiting the inclination of the end from its mean vertical position, said doors being so disposed and balanced on said end that they automatically move to closed position when the end is tilted inwardly of the building, and they automatically swing outwardly to open position when the end is tilted outwardly of the building, said runway being so dimensioned as to be received within the garage building.

18. A toy garage comprising a roof, side walls, and a iloor, said floor being elevated an appreciable distance above the bottom of the toy, a pair of doors at one end of the garage, said doors being spring hinged at their outer edges and tending constantly to y open, a leaf spring secured to the lower face of the floor of the garage and projecting forwardly therefrom, the end of said leaf spring being provided with detent means to hold the doors in closed position, a runway, means at one end of said runway resting upon the detent spring, said detent spring being so adjusted as to be just capable of holding the doors in closed condition, whereby said detent spring is depressed and the doors automatically opened when a toy vehicle rolls up the runway toward the garage.

19. A toy garage comprising a roof, side walls, and a floor, said oor being elevated an appreciable dist-ance above the bottom of the toy, a pair of doors at one end of the garage, said doors being spring hinged at their outer edges and tending constantly to ily open, a leaf spring secured to the lower face of thc oor of the garage and projecting forwardly therefrom, the end of said leaf spring being provided with detent means to hold the doors in closed position, a relatively large sheet metal runway, means at one end of said runway adapted to rest upon and readily detachably mate with the outwardly projecting end of Ithe detent` spring, whereby said runway may be removed for compact storage of the toy when not in use, said detent spring being so adjusted as to be just capable of holding the doors in closed condition, whereby said detent spring is depressed and the doors automatically opened when a toy vehicle rolls up the runway toward the garage.

20. A toy garage comprising a roof, side walls, and a floor, said oor being elevated an appreciable distance above the bottom of the toy, a pair of doors at one end of the garage, said doors being spring hinged at their outer edges and tending constantly to ily open, a narrow wall extending from one side to the other of the garage below the doors and occupying the space between the floor and the bottom of the toy, a leaf spring secured to the lower face of the floor of the garage and projecting forwardly through an opening in said narrow wall, the end of said leaf spring being provided with detent means to hold the doors in closed position, a relatively large sheet metal runway having an area substantially equal to the bottom area of the garage, means at one end of said runway adapted to rest upon and readily detachably mate with the outwardly projecting end of the detent spring, whereby said runway may be removed for compact storage of the toy when not in use, said detent spring being so adjusted as to be just capable of holding the doors I* in closed condition, whereby said detent spring is depressed and the doors automatically opened when a toy vehicle rolls up the runway toward the garage.

2l. A toy garage comprising a roof, side walls, 5

and a floor, said oor being elevated an appreciable distance above the bottom of the toy, a door at one end of the garage, resilient means tending to open said door, a narrow wall extending from one side to the other of the garage below the door 7 and occupying the space between the floor and the bottom of the toy, a leaf spring secured to the lower face of the floor of the garage and projecting forwardly through an opening in said narrow wall, the end of said leaf spring being provided with detent means to hold the door in closed position, a relatively large sheet metal runway, means at one end of said runway adapted to rest upon and readily detachably mate with the outwardly projecting end of the detent spring, whereby said runway may be removed for compact storage of the toy when not in use, said detent spring being so adjusted as to be just capable of holding the doors in closed condition, whereby said detent spring is depressed and the doors automatically opened when a toy vehicle rolls up the runway toward the garage.

MYRON FLEISHMAN.

JOHN W. K. HEPPNER. 

